We have a machine that is dedicated to symbolic manipulation (prediction of new symbols based on past ones). It seems reasonable to compare it to a person that

We have a machine that is dedicated to symbolic manipulation (prediction of new symbols based on past ones). It seems reasonable to compare it to a person that is good at symbolic manipulation. Why would we compare the machine to average people who mostly don't think that way? Why would training a neural network architecture that lives and breathes symbols somehow yield an entity with intelligence like that of an average human? Most humans learn primarily from completely different sources.